The Newport Casino is an athletic complex and recreation center located at 180–200 Bellevue Avenue, Newport,

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

in the Bellevue Avenue/Casino Historic District. Built in 1879–1881 by ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the '' New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Hi ...

'' publisher James Gordon Bennett, Jr., it was designed in the Shingle style by the newly formed firm of

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

. The Newport Casino was the firm's first major commission and helped to establish the firm's national reputation. Built as a social club, it included courts for both

lawn tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and

court tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

, facilities for other games, such as squash and

lawn bowling Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

, club rooms for reading, socializing, card-playing, and

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

, shops, and a convertible theater and ballroom. It became a center of Newport's social life during the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

through the 1920s. The casino was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1970, and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1987. The complex, which was the site of the earliest American lawn tennis championships, has been the site of the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...

since 1954.

1879 – 1900

James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was a summer resident of Newport and in August 1879 paid $60,000 to acquire the Sidney Brooks estate "Stone Villa" (demolished in 1957, the Bellevue Gardens shopping complex currently stands in its place). Legend claims that Bennett placed a bet with his guest and polo partner British Cavalry Officer, Captain Henry Augustus "Sugar" Candy that Candy would not ride his horse up onto the front porch of Newport's most exclusive men's club – The Newport Reading Room. Candy won the bet, but the Reading Room members were not amused and revoked guest privileges for the men causing Bennett to build his own social club. The ''Newport Mercury'' does not confirm the polo-pony exploits by Bennett and Captain Candy, but rather states Candy was dismissed from the Newport Reading Room "for a clear violation of the rules of that institution." Nonetheless, Bennett had already been in discussions with Charles McKim in 1879 about converting his summer home Stone Villa into a social club. However, he then decided to acquire the vacant lot across the street and commission McKim and his partners, William Mead and

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect and a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms at the turn of the 20th century. White designed many houses ...

to bring to life a facility that would allow for both private and public areas. The blueprints for the Newport Casino were drawn up by the end of 1879. The construction was overseen by local contractor Nathan Barker. Ground was broken for the construction on January 8, 1880. With an estimated construction crew of 200-300 laborers, the Newport Casino opened to its first patrons in July 1880, and the general public got their first view in August 1880. Charles McKim oversaw the main design of the physical building. William Mead's role was as engineer and financial organizer. Stanford White was responsible for the design of the interior spaces, including furniture, as well as the Casino Theatre. The completed main building consisted of a three-story clubhouse; the ground floor had open-air porches and Bellevue Avenue facing storefronts, the second floor housed the billiards room, club and reading rooms, and lodgings, while the third floor contained additional lodging rooms and attic spaces. At the rear of the property is a two-story porch that connects the Court Tennis building and the Casino Theatre building. Taking many elements and cues from the Japanese Pavilion at the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, McKim, Mead & White provided for a plan that was both secluded and open. A theatre located at the rear of the property (extant) was completed in 1881. Originally, its 500 seats were removable for dancing and the building was the scene of many social occasions for fashionable Summer visitors in the

. One such attendee and early performer who lectured at the theatre in 1882 was

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

. The United States Lawn Tennis Association held their first championships at the Casino in 1881, an event that would continue through 1914. By this time, tennis was firmly entrenched as the key attraction at the Casino.

1900 – 1954

The first half of the 20th century was unkind to the Newport Casino. The Gilded age drew to a close with the onset of the Depression, and the Newport fell by the wayside as a summer resort for the wealthy and powerful. The Casino struggled financially as a social club right from the start, and by the 1950s the Casino was in sad shape. Like many of the mansions, there was the very real possibility that it would be demolished to make way for more modern retail space. Candy and Jimmy Van Alen took over operating the club, and by 1954 had established the

in the Newport Casino. The combination of prominent headliners at the tennis matches and the museum allowed the building to be saved. It stands today as one of the finest examples of Victorian Shingle Style architecture in the world. The buildings are generally well preserved, and the Casino Theatre which was in a state of disrepair was restored in 2010 and is currently leased to Salve Regina University. The theater occasionally still shows films, mostly during the Newport International Film Festival or charity events. The Newport Casino hosted the first

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

on July 17 and 18, 1954.

1955 – Present

In 1963, the Casino was the site of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's first appearance at the

Newport Folk Festival The Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. The festival was founded by music promoter and Jazz Festival founder Geor ...

, where he performed with

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

in the Horseshoe Court.

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

Phil Ochs Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter, protest song, protest singer (or, as he preferred, "topical singer"), and Political Activist, political activist. Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic h ...

, and

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter whose career spans more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

also performed. The complex of buildings has undergone frequent restoration during the modern era. At the rear of the property is a two-story porch that connects the Court Tennis Building and the Casino Theatre, both original to the Newport Casino complex built in 1880. The

Court Tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

building was restored in 1980 and the National Tennis Club was formed to use and preserve this game, from which the modern game of tennis evolved. The Casino Theatre, which had long been used primarily for storage, was restored in partnership with nearby Salve Regina University in 2010 to house their theater program during the school year and to be used for a variety of films, lectures, and other programming during the summer months. One important change in the Theater renovation is that the fixed one-level seating which had been installed in the early 1920s (to replace the removable seating of the original design) was replaced with graded permanent seating. During the renovation the fixed seating was removed and restored by the same Michigan company that originally made the seats in the 1920s, and even retained the top-hat storage underneath each chair. In 2010 the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Salve Regina University's restoration project of the Casino Theatre was recognized by Preserve Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission with the Rhody Award for Historic Preservation. The Hall of Fame Museum's exhibition galleries which exist on the second floor of the main Newport Casino building have been created in a series of renovations, first in the 1970s, then in the 1990s, again in 2014–2015, and most recently in 2025. In the 1990s, the third floor of the main building was renovated into a suitable repository for the storage and study of pieces in the Tennis Hall of Fame artifact, library, and archival collections. The most recent renovation exposed many original McKim, Mead & White fireplaces that had long been hidden behind sheet-rock walls. Recently several large construction projects have helped reshape the campus. In 2014, a steel indoor tennis building and gas station were demolished and a 19th-century cottage was relocated to create space for a large new structure designed in the Shingle Style by Robert A.M. Stern to house three new indoor courts, a gymnasium, an enlarged pro shop and Hall of Fame office. Three new outdoor courts are enclosed by an inflatable bubble roof during the winter months to double the number of year-round courts available on the campus. The stadium court and stands also underwent renovation on 2016 to replace old bleacher seating located on the South end of the courts with new individual seating modeled on the seating at Wimbledon. This renovation also modified the West Stands, which had originally been built as part of the coaching and riding ring of the original complex, which was converted into the showcase Stadium Court in the 1970s.

Buildings

The complex includes: * The Casino (shops, a restaurant, offices, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame Museum) * Horseshoe Piazza and Court *

Bill Talbert William Franklin Talbert (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 1999) was an American tennis player and administrator. Tennis career He was ranked in the U.S. top 10 from 1941 to 1954, and he was ranked World No. 3 in 1949 by John Olliff of ''The D ...

Stadium *

Buildin
(The National Court Tennis Club)
* Casino Theatre – restored and managed by Salve Regina University Department of Performing Arts * Indoor tennis court
(Newport Casino Indoor Racquet Club)
* Various grass

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

(Newport Casino Lawn Tennis Club)

Sports

The Newport Casino was never a public gambling establishment. Originally, "

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

" meant a small villa built for pleasure. During the 19th century, the term casino came to include other buildings where social activities took place. In its heyday during the

, the Newport Casino offered a wide array of social diversions to the summer colony including archery, billiards, bowling, concerts, dancing, dining, horse shows, lawn bowling, reading, lawn tennis, tea parties, and theatricals. It was best known as the home of American

; the Casino hosted the 1881–1914 National Championships, later called the U.S. Open. Between 1915 and 1967 it hosted the Newport Casino Invitational men's tennis tournament. Today, there is still an active grass-court tennis club, as well as an indoor tennis club. The Newport Casino Croquet Club offers championship

croquet Croquet ( or ) is a sport which involves hitting wooden, plastic, or composite balls with a mallet through hoops (often called Wicket, "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Variations In all forms of croquet, in ...

play on Newport's grass courts. The

Building, housing the National Tennis Club, is part of the original complex, and was constructed in 1881. The structure lost its roof to a fire during the 1940s but was restored to functionality with a large-scale renovation in 1980, and remains one of the most active courts of its type in the United States.

Notable Members

Notable former members include: *

John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He was among the most ...

, American businessman * Charles H. Baldwin, an officer in the United States Navy, who served during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War *

August Belmont August Belmont Sr. (born Aron Belmont; December 8, 1813November 24, 1890) was a German-American financier, diplomat, and politician. He served as Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 1860 to 1872. He was also a thoroughbred racehors ...

, United States banker, financier and diplomat *

James Gordon Bennett Jr. James Gordon Bennett Jr. (May 10, 1841May 14, 1918) was an American publisher. He was the publisher of the ''New York Herald'', founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett Sr. (1795–1872), who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as ...

, American publisher * Edward H. Bulkeley, American clubman * Thomas Forbes Cushing, American clubman * Elisha Dyer Jr., American Politician * John N. A. Griswold, American China trade merchant, industrialist, and diplomat * Gardiner Greene Howland, American businessman * H. H. Hunnewell, American banker * David H. King Jr., American gilded age constructor * Henry Ledyard, American politician * Pierre Lorillard IV, American tobacco manufacturer and racehrose owner *

Levi P. Morton Levi Parsons Morton (May 16, 1824 – May 16, 1920) was the 22nd vice president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He also served as List of ambassadors of the United States to France, United States ambassador to France, as a United States H ...

, Vice President of the United States from 1889 to 1893 * Royal Phelps, American politician * Fairman Rogers, American academic *

Philip Schuyler Philip John Schuyler (; November 20, 1733 - November 18, 1804) was an American general in the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War and a United States Senate, United States Senator from New York (state), New York. He is usually known as ...

, Soldier, clubman, philanthropist and prominent member of New York society during the Gilded Age * Frederic W. Stevens, American lawyer and banker * William R. Travers, American businessman

Gallery

File:Copy of 3BellevueFront1880.jpg, Newport Casino original façade, 1880 File:Newport-casino-1.jpg, Newport Casino, Bellevue Ave. façade, 1970 File:Newport-casino-2.jpg, Newport Casino, Horseshoe Court, 1970 File:International Tennis Hall of Fame (51488824300).jpg, Bellevue Avenue façade File:ITHF Grounds and Newport Casino building.jpg, Horseshoe Courtyard

References

External links

* *Description of th
Casino Theatre
*Official site of th
International Tennis Hall of Fame
{{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in Newport, Rhode Island National Historic Landmarks in Rhode Island Tennis venues in Rhode Island Sports venues in Rhode Island US Open (tennis) McKim, Mead & White buildings Commercial buildings completed in 1880 Landmarks in Rhode Island Shingle Style architecture in Rhode Island Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Tourist attractions in Newport, Rhode Island Historic American Buildings Survey in Rhode Island Casinos completed in the 19th century 1880 establishments in Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Newport, Rhode Island Casinos in Rhode Island Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Rhode Island